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2010 and 2011 Business Plan Competitions 729 participants 202 judges and mentors the gift of 214 teams $157,000 in prizes competition MAKING GOOD PLANS EVEN BETTER Since 2000, Notre Dame business plan competitions have attracted thousands of would-be entrepreneurs. As iron sharpens iron, this competition can hone and refine business plans until the best ideas emerge, and the plans that have some holes or weak spots find the expertise and perspective to make them stronger. The competition, of course, is the not the end result. Ventures, like children, have to make their way in the world. And some do spectacularly well. ND 2007 winner SmarterShade—an aftermarket energy-efficient product for windows that competed previously as SolarShade—took fifth place in the ultra-competitive Rice Business Plan Competition in 2011 and was featured in Fortune Magazine. The 2009 winner, Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE), a microventure that supports women in developing countries through the manufacture and distribution of plant-based feminine products, won the highly prestigious 2010 Curry Stone Design Grand Prize worth $100,000. Purdue-ND competition goes nano In spring 2011, Notre Dame and Purdue University col- laborated on a new business plan competition aimed at ventures involving nanotechnology. The Nanotechnology New Ventures Competition drew 23 entries that competed for more than $57,000. Notre Dame teams finished in the two top spots: Citrics Biomedical claimed the top prize of $30,000 for its plan for a biocompatible, bioresorbable nanocom- posite product called CitrOSponge; and LightSprite, led by Notre Dame physics professors Steven Ruggiero and Carol Tanner, finished second and received $15,000. New seminar helps family businesses endure Family businesses account for 80-90 percent of all U.S. businesses, but less than a third survive to a second generation. The Gigot Center's Family Business Seminar aims to improve those odds with an annual two-day event, launched in 2010, that provides expert advice on issues critical to the survival of a family business. In 2011, the seminar attracted 55 alumni participants representing 16 Notre Dame family businesses. Social ventures head to 'boot camp' A diverse group of social ventures, ranging from the Saint Vincent de Paul Society to a group that wants to help ex-cons re-enter society, participated in the inaugural Social Venture Boot Camp in May 2011. The workshop-style event included interactive exercises designed to guide social entrepreneurs through the process of building a sustainable business model. Six invited organizations attended, including the education-focused venture No Parent Left Behind, winner of the Bernel Best Bootstrap Award in the 2011 McCloskey Business Plan Competition. Notre Dame business plan competition winners The annual event historically included two competitions: the McCloskey Competition for for-profit endeavors, and the Social Venture Competition for nonprofits. In 2011, they merged under the McCloskey name, awarding the Klau Family Prize for Greatest Social Impact to the venture that addresses a societal or environmental issue. 22 2010-2011 McCloskey: Huddle Up, a mobile application allowing alumni to locate each other within a certain geographic range Social: EOS International, a nonprofit providing rural Nicaraguan communities with low-cost technology 2009-2010 McCloskey: Weekend Student Adventures (WSA) Europe, a travel service catering to U.S. college students studying abroad Social: Morph and Thro, a venture producing an eco-active clothing line made from 100% recycled bottles Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies